Correlation of neurocognitive deficits with positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia

Richa Priyamvada; Rupesh Ranjan; Gyanendra Kumar Jha; Suprakash Chaudhury

doi:10.4103/ipj.ipj_44_20

Correlation of neurocognitive deficits with positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia

Ind Psychiatry J. 2021 Jul-Dec;30(2):249-254. doi: 10.4103/ipj.ipj_44_20. Epub 2021 Sep 8.

Authors

Richa Priyamvada¹, Rupesh Ranjan², Gyanendra Kumar Jha³, Suprakash Chaudhury⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Chirayu Medical College and Hospital, India.
² Department of Psychiatry, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
³ Consultant Psychiatrist, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Abstract

Background: Patients with schizophrenia manifests a broad array of cognitive impairments, including impaired performance on measures reflecting attention, information processing, executive functions, memory, and language capabilities.

Aim: This study aims to assess neurocognitive deficits and their correlation with positive and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

Materials and methods: Sample was collected from private clinic of Jabalpur, Bhopal, and Patna. Selection of sample was purposive sampling. The sample size consists of 60 diagnosed cases of schizophrenia on the basis of (International Classification of Diseases-10 [ICD-10] Diagnostic Criteria for Research criteria) and 30 normal controls. Annet's Hand Preference Battery was used to screen handedness and only right-handed male were included in this study. After screening according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, 60 diagnosed (ICD-10 criteria) schizophrenia patients were selected which was further divided into two groups on the basis of positive and negative syndrome scale, i.e. schizophrenia with positive and negative symptoms. Thirty matched normal controls having scores <2 scores on General Health Questionnaire-12 were selected for the study. After filling of sociodemographic details Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB-I) was administered on both schizophrenia group and normal control.

Results: Cognitive functions are severely impaired in schizophrenia compared to normal control and within schizophrenia groups negative schizophrenia had poor performance on LNNB-I than positive schizophrenia. Regarding the correlation of neurocognitive deficits, both schizophrenia groups were correlated but negative symptoms of schizophrenia were strongly correlated with neurocognitive deficits.

Conclusion: Cognitive functions are severely impaired in schizophrenia as compared to normal control and within schizophrenia groups, negative schizophrenia had poor performance on LNNB-I than positive schizophrenia. Regarding the correlation of neurocognitive deficits, both schizophrenias groups were correlated but negative symptoms of schizophrenia were strongly correlated with neurocognitive deficits.

Keywords: Cognitive deficits; positive and negative symptoms; schizophrenia.